I'm looking to upgrade my cooler solution with something like this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Aspenora-Refrigerator-30-Quart-Portable-Compressor/dp/B07VCR2SK3/

 

I'm mostly a Panfish guy - Pickerel 15-18 inches - Yellow Perch - 8-12 inches, along with assorted other species generally under 12 inches.  I vacuum seal after gutting and scaling.  Can somebody give me a rough idea how many of my fish will fit in this model?  I can deal with the economics of bigger models, but the increased weight is something that I prefer not to have to deal with.

 

 

                                     

Going to be a lot of variables and no real way to guess because one fish will be thicker or taller than another. It says it holds 42 12oz cans. I don't know how many fish you're planning on keeping, but I wouldn't want to clean more panfish than I could put in that kind of area. I would think you could fit 2 dozen yellow perch pretty easily in something with those dimensions.

Is this for a camping situation? If not, why bother?

I might be a panfish hoarder on some occasions. I have been known to harvest 30-50 panfish during prespawn/spawn per outing. It takes me 3-4 hours to clean/filet that many bluegills or crappies. If I don't have time, a 5 gal bucket packed with ice will hold the fish over until I can get to them the following day.

Just now, slonezp said:

Is this for a camping situation? If not, why bother?

I might be a panfish hoarder on some occasions. I have been known to harvest 30-50 panfish during prespawn/spawn per outing. It takes me 3-4 hours to clean/filet that many bluegills or crappies. If I don't have time, a 5 gal bucket packed with ice will hold the fish over until I can get to them the following day.

I go on 3-5 day fishing trips and take the catch home.  If I were a better butcher, I'd fillet, but I end up just gutting, scaling, and cutting the heads off, before vacuum sealing.  I'd save tons of space by filletting, but I'm so dead tired at the end of the day, I don't bother to try.

 

The cooler solution worked for me last season, but I no longer want to deal with having to worry about ice levels and having to add ice.

 

Unfortunately, the hotel room has a refrigerator, but not a freezer.

4 minutes ago, Pkfish49 said:

I go on 3-5 day fishing trips and take the catch home.  If I were a better butcher, I'd fillet, but I end up just gutting, scaling, and cutting the heads off, before vacuum sealing.  I'd save tons of space by filletting, but I'm so dead tired at the end of the day, I don't bother to try.

 

The cooler solution worked for me last season, but I no longer want to deal with having to worry about ice levels and having to add ice.

 

Unfortunately, the hotel room has a refrigerator, but not a freezer.

I think I'd be more comfortable spending that kind of money on a high end YETI cooler or similar. If the mechanical (compressor) cooler fails, you're screwed. BTW, there is nothing wrong with keeping the fish in a fridge for a few days before freezing them. Ideally, if you could get crushed/shaved ice and a YETI or similar cooler, you'd be golden, and not have to be worried about the mechanical cooler/freezer failing. 

 

Mind you, I'm also a journeyman refrigeration mechanic by trade, or used to be. That's a story for another day. Ice has 2 variables which influence it. The ability to reject heat and the ability to reject moisture. In a heavily insulated medium (the YETI or similar) the variables will be kept in check or reduced to a minimum. When you add an outside influence (mechanical cooler/freezer) you have added more areas where it could fail. I'm not downplaying the cooler as I know nothing of it. The cooler/freezer also requires a 12/24v power source. If your truck/vehicle is parked and not generating 12vdc power to this cooler, where does that leave you? Can you plug the cooler into a 120v outlet with a DC inverter 

Lots of questions to ask.

Just now, slonezp said:

I think I'd be more comfortable spending that kind of money on a high end YETI cooler or similar. If the mechanical (compressor) cooler fails, you're screwed. BTW, there is nothing wrong with keeping the fish in a fridge for a few days before freezing them. Ideally, if you could get crushed/shaved ice and a YETI or similar cooler, you'd be golden, and not have to be worried about the mechanical cooler/freezer failing. 

 

Mind you, I'm also a journeyman refrigeration mechanic by trade, or used to be. That's a story for another day. Ice has 2 variables which influence it. The ability to reject heat and the ability to reject moisture. In a heavily insulated medium (the YETI or similar) the variables will be kept in check or reduced to a minimum. When you add an outside influence (mechanical cooler/freezer) you have added more areas where it could fail. I'm not downplaying the cooler as I know nothing of it. The cooler/freezer also requires a 12/24v power source. If your truck/vehicle is parked and not generating 12vdc power to this cooler, where does that leave you? Can you plug the cooler into a 120v outlet with a DC inverter 

Lots of questions to ask.

This unit (and different sizes of the model) come with both AC and DC plugs, so I can run it in my hotel, as well as my car.  According to the manufacturer:

 

"The refrigerator actually works under DC power. But we provide an AC adapter so that it can work on the 110v AC power source. So the portable fridge can work on 12/24V DC and 110V AC power source."

 

I originally spent a lot less money on a Coleman cooler which did the job.  This system however, required a lot of extra work on my part.  I had to haul 8 bags of ice from the store to my room, then break it up.  On subsequent end-of days, I then had to dig out a few top layers, as I didn't want to put new fish on top of the ice; I wanted it completely covered.  I'm really dead at the end of the day and want the least amount of work and responsibilities when I return.  Dealing with having to pack and repack ice, is also a little time-consuming.  When I got back to the room, I want to shower, eat dinner, and then go on Facebook to show off my catch.  I want to deal with the least bit of other stuff that will delay the rest of my night.

In addition, I bought the cooler at the end of last season, and the days weren't hot, yet at the end of each day, I was always able to drain some water.  As I'll by fishing in hotter weather, I'm more worried about ice in coolers melting. As I'm on the lake, dealing with life on my own terms, I don't want to have to worry previous day's bounty potentially spoiling.

 

I appreciate your warning, but when I drive home, there are no stops along the way, so there shouldn't be any problems with the freezer doing its job.

 

I know I can keep fish in the refrigerator for a few days, but I think my schedule will be pushing it.  Let's say I put some fish in the refrigerator Saturday night, but will not be driving home until Wednesday morning.  Not sure how comfortable I'm with leaving the fish in the refrigerator for 3.5 days, then driving home with it in a styrofoam cooler packed with ice, before putting it in my home freezer.

 

At this point, I'm most likely going to go ahead and order a portable freezer, but am still deciding on a size.  I fantasize about dream trips, but realistically, I think this 30-Quart unit should have enough space for me needs. 

 

Whatever I decide to do, I'll review the unit after my first trip with it.

I don’t want to be that guy but it should be mentioned, what are the limits for panfish where you are going?  Here in NH, no angler can have more than 2 limits worth of fish in the freezer.

On 3/9/2020 at 2:41 AM, redmexican5081 said:

I don’t want to be that guy but it should be mentioned, what are the limits for panfish where you are going?  Here in NH, no angler can have more than 2 limits worth of fish in the freezer.

Appreciate the warning.  I am a very law-abiding angler.  The critical passage for New York state reads as follows:

 

No more than two days’ legal take of nonsalable fish may be transported unless a permit is obtained from a DEC Regional Office, or the fish are frozen, processed and packaged for storage.

 

My stored catch will meet the definition of "frozen, processed and packed for storage," so I'm good.

 

This regulation can be found here:

 

http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/general-regulations/

 

 

19 minutes ago, Pkfish49 said:

Appreciate the warning.  I am a very law-abiding angler.  The critical passage for New York state reads as follows:

 

No more than two days’ legal take of nonsalable fish may be transported unless a permit is obtained from a DEC Regional Office, or the fish are frozen, processed and packaged for storage.

 

My stored catch will meet the definition of "frozen, processed and packed for storage," so I'm good.

 

This regulation can be found here:

 

http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/general-regulations/

 

 

Just gotta worry about THIS bit - just above where you found the 'frozen, processed, etc' part.

 

"It is illegal on New York State waters to possess walleye, black bass, brook trout, lake trout or Atlantic salmon that have been cut, dismembered, filleted, skinned or otherwise altered so that the species and total length of such fish cannot be easily determined. However, these fish may be gilled or gutted. Other species of fish may be filleted provided that the skin is not removed from the fillets. This regulation allows more effective enforcement of harvest regulations on protected game fish."

28 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Just gotta worry about THIS bit - just above where you found the 'frozen, processed, etc' part.

 

"It is illegal on New York State waters to possess walleye, black bass, brook trout, lake trout or Atlantic salmon that have been cut, dismembered, filleted, skinned or otherwise altered so that the species and total length of such fish cannot be easily determined. However, these fish may be gilled or gutted. Other species of fish may be filleted provided that the skin is not removed from the fillets. This regulation allows more effective enforcement of harvest regulations on protected game fish."

Got it - Appreciate the heads up as I didn't notice the finer points.

 

I don't have to worry about brook trout, lake trout, Walleye, or Atlantic Salmon, as none of the waters I hit have those species.  Come Bass season though, (3rd Saturday in June) it looks like if I want to follow the letter of the law, I'd have to keep the Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass heads intact until I got home (not too worried about DEC officers invading my city apartment to inspect my freezer .)  I scale, but don't remove skin, so everything else about the species is clearly identifiable.

 

While we are off topic, how stupid is the Fish Carcass Disposal law?

"It is illegal to discard any fish carcass, or parts thereof, into the freshwaters of the state within 100 feet of shore or upon any public or private lands contiguous to and within 100 feet of such water, except:..."

 

IMHO, it makes much more sense to throw fish waste back into the body of water that it came from.  Catfish and other parts of nature will do their job.  Does it really make more sense to put the guts and other waste into a shoreline garbage can that will attract wasps and other insects, as well as cause the surrounding area to smell badly.  Then later, the waste will have to be transported somewhere else, and cause the same problems.

3 minutes ago, Pkfish49 said:

While we are off topic, how stupid is the Fish Carcass Disposal law?

"It is illegal to discard any fish carcass, or parts thereof, into the freshwaters of the state within 100 feet of shore or upon any public or private lands contiguous to and within 100 feet of such water, except:..."

Minnesota it gets a little worse. You can't dispose of unused minnows into any body of water. You have to toss them in the trash.

 

Even if the minnows were caught in that very same lake/pond!

 

Once they're in your 'minnow bucket' or livewell, they're now considered 'contaminated' and have to go into the trash.

7 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Minnesota it gets a little worse. You can't dispose of unused minnows into any body of water. You have to toss them in the trash.

 

Even if the minnows were caught in that very same lake/pond!

 

Once they're in your 'minnow bucket' or livewell, they're now considered 'contaminated' and have to go into the trash.

WI and IL are the same

On 3/8/2020 at 3:54 PM, slonezp said:

I think I'd be more comfortable spending that kind of money on a high end YETI cooler or similar.

You are one of many people, (including the owner of my local bait and tackle shop) who gave this advice, so I have changed my mind and now intend on purchasing a Yeti.

 

Any advice on a specific model?

 

Many thanks!

I called Yeti directly for advice on a model to fit my needs.  I spoke to a guy named Ben who was very helpful.  He spoke to me at length and was very knowledgeable. Once he knew my needs, he didn't try to upsell me a more expensive model.   I normally buy stuff from Amazon these days, but purchased directly from Yeti for a few reasons:

 

1 - I wanted to support them more, (Amazon takes a cut of profits) since the sales rep was so helpful.

2 - Amazon's description of the product clearly stated that it was coming for a "Yeti Authorized" dealer - not Yeti itself.  Since this is a little pricey, I wanted to be 100% certain this was coming directly from the source.  

 

I still prefer Amazon for almost everything.  If something is defective, or if a third-party seller tries screwing me, I'll always get my money back.  Since the Yeti sales representative was so professional, I'm not worried about the transaction at all.

 

Not at all intended to make light of the current situation, as more important things are going on, but I am indeed praying that on May 2nd, Hertz, my hotel, and the upstate boat rental place will be open.  If so, I'll have lots of beautiful fish pictures to share in the "Other Fish Species Latest Catch" forum.